


Sacrifices

by Tadibe



Category: Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Betrayal, F/M, Iokath, war for iokath
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 23:53:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15497643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tadibe/pseuds/Tadibe
Summary: I had my own little head-canon going as to who did what/when/where up until 'The Nathema Conspiracy' came out.  Some of the information revealed in that flashpoint changed some very firmly held beliefs for me.  This was my attempt to understand Theron's motivations for what he decided to do, and rework my head-canon to fit what the BW writers gave us.





	Sacrifices

Theron stood near the doorway of the super weapon facility.  He was dressed in the robes of a zakuulan scion, a disguise meant to hide his identity from the only other person in the room.  He could see her now from where he was standing, just barely.  The room they were in was large, and at it’s center was a set of stairs leading to a platform and a throne, the type of throne the ancient Iokathans seemed to love to turn into controls for their weapons.

  From his vantage point Theron could just see up to the top of the stairs.  The throne was not far beyond that, and laying on the floor in front of the throne was the motionless form of Olivya, Commander of the Eternal Alliance.  Theron stared intently at her now, watching for any signs of life.  Just moments before, jagged bolts of electricity had shot through her.  She had cried out before her body had stiffened, then crumbled, tumbling from the throne to the floor.

  Her face had contorted in agony, her fingers stiffening as they grasped claw-like at the arms of the throne.  He knew she had survived worse in the past, that her training as an imperial spy had taught her how to withstand pain, just as his training in the republic SIS had taught him.  But that didn't make it any easier to watch.  The sight of her falling, the way she lay now, unmoving; those images would forever be seared into his brain.

  He stood by the doorway, holding himself perfectly still.  His greatest desire at that moment was to run to her and make sure she was okay, but he didn't; he couldn't.  The robes he wore were to disguise himself from the Commander, but there was another disguise he was trying to put on, one more subtle, and a lot more deadly.  A disguise that would hide his true loyalties from some very dangerous people.

  And they might be watching now.

  For the hundredth time he ran the calculations through his head.  His eyes stayed trained on the commander, worry etching his brow.  Earlier, while she had been interfacing with the super weapon, he had set a device on the control panel.  It was that device that had caused the throne to malfunction and send electricity rippling through her body.  If his calculations had been off, the jolt may have been too much.  He shifted impatiently from foot to foot, going over the possibilities in his head.  The super weapon would have killed her.  It needed to power up, and it used the life force of a living being to do that. His research into it had told him that much. Freeing the commander from the throne was a necessity, but it couldn't look like that was what he was trying to do.  It had to look like he wanted her dead.

  His communicator buzzed, coming to life, the familiar voice of Lana Beniko reaching out to him.

  “Theron?  I’ve been trying to contact the Commander, but she isn’t answering.  We registered a spike of power from the super weapon facility.  What is going on?”  Exasperation and worry colored her tone.

  “Hold on Lana.  I had a little trouble splicing into the weapon.” Theron replied, the lie rolling easily off his lips. “I’m on my way to rejoin the Commander now.  Give me a couple minutes to get there.”  

  The communicator went quiet for a few seconds before he received Lana’s answer.  “Fine.  Just.. hurry it up, would you?  Something isn’t right.”

Theron snapped the communicator closed, shaking his head.  Lana was more right than she knew.  He wondered how long he could keep her in the dark, whether it would be long enough to accomplish what he had to do.  Lying was part of his job, and he was usually good at it, when he needed to be.  But it had never before been so personal.  Keeping the truth from the enemy meant keeping it from the Alliance as well.  But lying to the Alliance meant putting its people at risk.  And this lie had put its most important member in danger.

  The plan had been for the Commander to go ahead to try and stop the weapon before it destroyed everyone on the planet.  He was supposed to be tech support, working behind the scenes to buy her time.  But he had followed her instead, watching, waiting until she was engaged with the weapon before setting the device that may have just killed her.  That thought sent chills through him.  The Alliance couldn’t survive without the Commander.  

  He closed his eyes for a moment, memory over taking him.  His heart twisted as the image of Olivya smiling up at him came to mind.  She had been so somber and serious that day.  The joke he had cracked had been stupid, meant only to lighten her mood.  And it had worked, better than he had anticipated.  Her green eyes had sparkled with laughter as she looked up at him.  Then they had darkened, filling with a heady mixture of love and desire as her hands reached up to gently tug his head down so his lips could meet with her own...

  He opened his eyes, reality chasing away the memory as he once again stared at her unmoving form.  The Alliance couldn't survive without it’s Commander, but he couldn't survive without Olivya, the woman who had stolen his heart.

  He pulled off the robe he had used to disguise himself and tossed it aside, unable to wait any longer.  Slowly he walked over to her, careful not to show an ounce of the concern he was feeling.

 “Liv?” As he knelt over her, he whispered her name, his eyes glancing over her, trying to discern any sign of serious injury.  She didn’t respond, and he started to reach down to her but hesitated as fear gripped him.  Uncertain of what he would find, he paused, then continued, brushing strands of blond hair from her cheek before sliding his hand down to check for a pulse in her neck.

 Relief washed through him, nearly took the strength out of him as he felt the faint thrum of her pulse beat against his fingertips.  He wanted to shout for joy, but again, he restrained the impulse; he was playing a role for a specific audience, and that audience wanted her dead.  They needed to believe that he wanted her dead, too.

  His communicator buzzed again.  Lana’s voice came on, not waiting for him to acknowledge her call.

  “Theron, are you there yet?  I’m on my way with a few others.  I still haven’t been able to raise the commander.”

  Theron gazed down at the comatose woman before him.  His hand drifted back up to brush her cheek, but he pulled it back at the last second.

  “I’m here Lana.  The commander is here as well.”  He paused a moment.  “What is your ETA?  Do you have a medic with you?”

  “Captain Dorne is with me.  We’re a few minutes out.  Theron, what is going on?”

  Theron closed his eyes, guilt washing through him, but he kept his voice steady as he replied.  “The Commander is down.  She’s unresponsive.”  His gaze slid back to the device he had placed earlier, then continued,  “It looks like something went wrong with the super weapon.”

  “What?  How...?”  Lana’s voice hitched up a few notches in surprise.  “I thought you were keeping an eye on it!”

  “I was trying to slow it down, give the Commander time to deactivate it.”  Annoyed by her tone, Theron responded without thinking, then remembered he hadn’t actually done any of that.  “I must have missed something.”  He sighed quietly, allowing a hint of his guilt to enter his voice.

  “Right.  Well, we can discuss this later.  I’ll be there shortly.  Just keep the commander stable until we get there.”  Lana’s reply was curt.

  The communicator went silent.  Theron set it down next to Olivya.  His hand drifted towards her again, but he pulled it back before he made contact.  He continued to watch her, keeping a careful eye on her condition as he considered his options.  It wouldn't take Lana long to reach the facility, especially now that she knew the Commander was injured.  He looked over at the device he had placed.  There would be no time to disconnect it, to hide the sabotage.  But that was a good thing.  The Alliance would be unable to trace it back to him.  He had been careful, and was confident he had covered his trail well.  But it would give them a clue that something was wrong.

  Olivya’s breathing changed, and Theron quickly looked back down at her.  He checked her pulse again.  Faint, but steady.  He wanted to do more, it was killing him not to, but he resisted, in case her enemies were watching.  He was frustrated.  Ever since discovering the possibility of their existence, he had worked tirelessly to find out more about this group, this ‘Order’.      

  Evidence for their existence had been mounting for months.  They seemed to have their hands in so many places, and all of their activities pointed towards one goal.  The worse part, he’d found evidence that they knew things.  Things about the Alliance and about it’s Commander.  Things that no one should know.  He had put all his resources towards finding out more about them.  But his leads had dried up quickly.   All he knew for certain was that they wanted the Alliance gone, the Commander dead, and that they had the resources to accomplish both.

 “Livi, I am so sorry.”  He whispered, his voice breaking on the last syllable.  This was the woman he loved. Beyond his ability to comprehend, she loved him, too.  Now she lay injured, at his hand.  But there was no other option.  If he was going to protect her, he had to find her enemies, and figure out what they were planning.  He had to infiltrate their organization, gain their trust.

  And to do that, he had to betray her.

  But Olivya was strong.  In the time he had known her she had faced many foes.  She had united sworn enemies, defeated men who had thought themselves gods, worked tirelessly to protect the galaxy.  And always she projected an aura of strength and of confidence to the people who rallied around her.  He knew she had her fears, she spoke of them when they were alone, but she never let them get in the way of her work.

  This was his one consolation.  She could survive this, and whatever else he would put her through.  He was counting on that.  He had little hope that there would be a place left for him when this was all over.  He wasn't even sure he would be alive to beg for his place back.  But that wasn't what was important. As long as Olivya was alive at the end of it all, it would be enough.

  As he waited he reminded himself of all this.  His gaze stayed trained on the woman before him, as if trying to memorize every thing about her.   His time was short, his plans set in motion.  All too soon, he would have to leave her.  

He heard the whirr of gears as the main door to the facility opened, followed quickly by the sound of Lana’s concerned call.  Too short.  He would count every second he had left with her, but this one, now, was over.  Theron carefully gathered the commander into his arms, brushed his lips against her forehead, and then carried her down the stairs to meet her rescuers.


End file.
